The deadline for first cuts isn't until tomorrow afternoon but the Dallas Cowboys went ahead and made their moves. They've waived five players today to satisfy the 85-man roster limit mandated league-wide after tomorrow.
Most of the players are waived with an injury tag, meaning that if they clear waivers the Cowboys can then place them on injured reserve. However, other clubs do have the ability to claim them during the 24-hour window.
Cowboys must reduce from 90- to 85-man roster by Tuesday at 3 p.m. CT. They are waive-injuring CB Kyron Brown, FB Ryan Nall, TE Ian Bunting and WR Ty Fryfogle and waiving DL Austin Faoliu, people familiar with decisions said. Players told this morning.
Next cut to 80 on Aug. 23.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) August 15, 2022
The most notable cut here is Ryan Nall. Signed to play fullback and on special teams, Nall has been missing time with his injury and couldn't play in last Saturday's preseason game.
As the only fullback on the roster before, Nall's absence was filled by several tight ends used as backfield blockers and other formations. Waiving Nall could indicate that Dallas will forego the FB position completely in 2022.
None of the other cuts were expected to make this year's roster. Kyron Brown, Ian Bunting, and Austin Faoliu were all holdovers from last year's practice squad. Ty Fryfogle was an undrafted rookie this year but has fallen behind Dennis Houston and KaVontae Turpin in the fight for the bottom of the roster.
Five more cuts will be due by next Tuesday's deadline. We'll see how this week's practice and the next preseason game against the Chargers impact those decisions.
